When Life Comes Full Circle

Posted on September 6, 2016

Last week I participated in the first of an ongoing parenting series called “Connections: Conversations with Parenting Experts.” This event was sponsored by L.A. Parent Magazine and was held at the Beverly Hills Library. Upon walking into the venue I had a flashback that took me by surprise.

Back in February 2011, I had been studying mindful parenting for a few years and was looking for a location to hold a parenting class. I had a group of dedicated mothers who thought that I should share my research and my personal philosophy and had urged me on. One of the women suggested using a meeting room at the Beverly Hills Library. We looked at a few of the spaces there; one of them was rather large. It was more of an auditorium. I saw the expansive space and said that it would be perfect. I was joking; the room sat 150 people and had a stage!

Kamila, one of the parents, said to me, “Don’t laugh. You don’t realize it, but you will be in this room one day. You are that good, you just don’t know it yet.”

I thanked her for her encouragement, gave her a hug, and told her I was going to take a picture and put it on my vision board. This is the photo of that room on February 8, 2011.

We did end up holding my first parenting workshop at the Beverly Hills Library. And I went on to hold many more sessions there as I wrote The “Perfect” Parent and continued to teach about mindfulness to families and educators.

When I received an invitation from L.A. Parent to speak at this event, they said it would be held in the library auditorium, and I knew exactly what room they meant. What Kamila said to me all those years ago had come to pass.

In fact, the evening became a full-circle experience for me. Most of the parents from that first workshop showed up, and in another surprise both my kids were there. They didn’t need to be come, but they wanted to support me. My daughter, Nitasha, brought her camera, and my son, Navin, came with a snack for me. What a role reversal! My kids were doing for me exactly what I had done for them while they were growing up—taking photos and bringing me snacks. Life truly had come full circle!

Aside from my wonderful kids and my fabulous first-workshop parents, I want to thank my fellow panelists, Pat Levitt, Ph.D., of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Dawn A. Kurtz, Ph.D. of LAUP. Their knowledge and expertise and my take on mindful parenting was woven together seamlessly for our engaged audience, and I’m grateful to Christina Elston, our talented moderator, and Elena Epstein of L.A. Parent Magazine for the invitation to speak.

Thank you also to City of Beverly Hills for its PR coverage on the event and to the Beverly Hills Public Library for hosting us. What a great place to start this speaker series.